Dept. of Obscure Facts, Redskins division

Couldn’t help smiling Sunday night when I saw Vince Wilfork, the Patriots’ round mound of nose tackle, lay out in an attempt to intercept a batted pass against the Jets. Wilfork, believe it or not, already has two picks this year. A third would give him a share of the NFL season record for a defensive tackle.

I bring this up because the all-time mark for interceptions by a defensive lineman is held by a Redskin. That would be Ron McDole, who played end under George Allen and Jack Pardee from 1971 to ’78 (after stints with the Cardinals, Houston Oilers and Bills). McDole wasn’t a great player, merely a good one. But he had a knack for picking off passes – 12 in all, four more than any other D-lineman in league history.

Johnson, you’ll note, is the only tackle in the group. He’s the guy Wilfork is chasing – though Vince probably doesn’t know it. I mean, we’re not exactly talking about a high-profile record here.

Still, it says something about a defensive lineman – that he’s good about getting his arms up, perhaps, or that he has great ball awareness, or that he’s lucky, or that, yes, he has good hands. Those hands spend a fair amount of time in the dirt (or underneath somebody’s facemask), of course, but on certain special occasions they can find themselves in contact with a football.

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About the Author

Dan Daly has been writing about sports for the Washington Times since 1982. He has won numerous national and local awards, appears regularly in NFL Films’ historical features and is the co-author of “The Pro Football Chronicle,” a decade-by-decade history of the game. Follow Dan on Twitter at @dandalyonsports –- or e-mail him at ddaly@washingtontimes.com.